POLARCHROMIC COPPER provides increased color definition and medium contrast while reducing reflected glare from water, sand, or pavement. An exceptional general purpose Polarchromic lens that is comfortable and soothing to wear all day.

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Smith
Parallel Max Polarized Sunglasses $158.95

Item # SMI0617

Description

Max out your athletic eyewear options.

The Smith Parallel Max shares the lightness of their Vxe and Pivlock 90 series sunglasses; they're so unobtrusive you'll likely forget you're wearing them. The key difference is a matter of style. The Parallel Max has separate lenses where the aforementioned models use one full coverage eyeshield. This is also where the Max differs from the standard Parallel sunglasses. The lenses are just slightly taller and wider to offer a bit more coverage.

We'd call the Parallel Max a close-fitting design. After all, the base curve of 9 ensures that the lenses sweep all the way around your eyes for optimum protection from unwanted light and glare as well as physical objects. The frame is made from Grilamid TR90, a tough plastic that is at once flexible, yet tough as nails. This lightweight frame supports individual lenses that pop out easily, like Smith's sliders of old. The lenses use Smith's Tapered Lens Technology (TLT) to give you a distortionless view. As you might've already experienced, visual distortion occurs when light waves hit an aggressively curved lens causing them to refract. This refraction causes a prismatic effect, or distortion. TLT corrects the distortion by progressively tapering the lens thickness from the optical center toward the peripheral edges. With TLT, light waves travel directly to your eye to generate precise vision and reduce potential eye fatigue. Objects are clearly defined and seen in their exact position.

Seeing clearly adds safety, but so does Smith's Carbonic lens material -- the most impact resistant lens material money can buy. Smith treats them with an anti-scratch coating to keep them as new as possible, as long as possible. They're light, they exceed ANSI Z80.3 specifications, and they protect your eyes from 100% of the UVA, UVB, and UVC rays out there.

The Grilamid TR90 frame provides you with maximum comfort, maximum flexibility, maximum toughness, and maximum resistance to sweat and sunscreen. And the hydrophilic Megol nose and temple pads keep them locked in place on your face. They won't slip. They won't slide. They won't fall off.

The Smith Parallel Max offers a close fit to your face and large coverage. It's available in Black w/polar grey and Brown w/polar brown. With either color option, you'll get two extra sets of lenses. The Ignitor lenses are great for overcast days as they increase definition and depth perception in low light. The Clear Mirror lenses are the best for very low light conditions. Switching between lenses is a total breeze and can be done in a matter of moments without tools.

POLARCHROMIC COPPER provides increased color definition and medium contrast while reducing reflected glare from water, sand, or pavement. An exceptional general purpose Polarchromic lens that is comfortable and soothing to wear all day.

Here's what others have to say...

View

A run with a view.

Familiarity:
I've used it several times

Fit:
Runs large

I got these beauties to make my runs a little more entertaining. Nowadays, I think these sunglasses provide better optics than the nicest television, making my runs better than the most creative movie of the year. Seriously though, these sunglasses make everything look better, whether I'm running the mountains or walking through the dirty downtown. The pads feels super soft against my nose and temples, and the lightweight frame stays in place from start to finish.

Comment on Brad Fowler's review:

Quality and Versatility

From morning long runs to sunny four hour road rides, these sunglasses provide the right lenses no matter what the conditions you may face. I also like them because the frames are light weight and lenses not too large. I have done everything from trail runs to triathlons with them and they haven't fallen off my face because of too much sweat or movement. I am happy with my purchase!

Comment on runningisfree's review:

Great Kayak Fishing

Great fishing glasses. Super light, excellent polarization. I forget I have them on. Only negatives I can think of (and I'm digging deep) is they sometimes briefly fog on muggy summer mornings. Since these are plastic lenses, they do scratch relatively easily compared to glass, but replacement lenses are readily available if you look for the sales and you can easily interchange the D-Max and the Max versions.

Comment on Will Guru's review:

Great Sunglasses

I just bought these sunglasses for snowboarding in the winter and mountain biking in the summer. My initial reaction was they fit great, I have a med/small head, so if you have a large head these may be tight on you. The lens go in and out easily and I got clear, amber and dark depending on the activity. All in all I'd recommend these sunglasses to any of my friends.

Comment on Mt. Baker Shredda's review:

Can't go wrong with these

Really does not get much better than these. Very comfortable and would not move regardless of ride surface. No pressure or discomfort on any point- nose or temple etc and peripheral vision is exceptional. At this price...a no-brainer!

Great glasses

I was going to ding this as not really being a great review but I have to say I'll confirm mark the website has the SRP as $129.00. I love backcountry.com and I'm sure they have a reason for their current price, but it'd also be cool if they adjusted the price to Smith's suggested retail price. Perhaps they're a rarity right now?

Comment on mark's review:

Sweet

I'd give them a 4.5 if that was a rating option and that's just because I'm stingy. They are a sweet set of shades whther ripping waves, snow or pimping. I never have gotten into the aviator piece preferring functionality over chic. Smith rocks as a company and their products exhibit that rockedness. I have had a pair of smiths on my noggin for over a decade. Sad to say but every pair I have owned so far have had burials at sea (river, lakes, etc). So run up the flag!

Has anyone purchased the Oakley Mag Four...

Yes Mark, Actually I am very meticulous. I wanted the Mag Four in carbon black with orange fire lenses. Oakley never made them available. A couple years ago I bought a pair of the plasma frames with the fire lense. About a year later someone on ebay placed a pair of black Mag Four lenses up for bid. I won the bid and took a special screwdriver (with a star shape) I had purchased years earlier and placed the lenses I wanted into the frames I wanted. Now I have a very personalized one of a kind pair. They are extremely awsome, lightweight and just damn great. I've sent Oakley so many ideas over the years about off the wall combinations, designs etc....as I'm a pretty creative guy for a scientist. I even told Oakley they should hire me as a creative R&D and design specialist but of course they continue to ignore me. It is their loss. I wish you luck if you want to find these. I wouldn't sell mine for less than $1000 bucks since I put so damn much energy into putting them together. Total cost to me was about $300 bucks. Bobby